A Better way to Refill the XL 551 Cartridges

[The Hat]

I made up this refiller by using an OEM orange clip and fitting a luer lock needles top to it held on with Araldite adhesive.

It wont to long I imagine before either Websnail or Mikling produce a commercial version of my refill clip
and have it on sale on their individual websites, if you cant wait then make your own one up.

The OEM clip itself is a bit weak at holding on to the cartridge with its little hooks so I placed a red rubber band over that area,
just in case it fell off as there will be no pressure applied to blow it off.

To cover the air maze I used a silicone washer from the bottom of another clip and held it on with the green rubber band,
it work pretty good but I think Ill use something a litter better next time.

I started with the cartridge on top of a 60 ml syringe and pulled back on the plunger to extract all of the remaining ink
that was left inside and left it to stand for a couple of minutes.

Then I refilled the syringe with about 20 ml of ink, it doesnt matter how much
you put into the syringe so long as its enough to do the job.

This is the important bit to watch out for, with the cartridge on bottom this time
pull back on the plunger as much as it can go and then let go.

DO NOT BE TEMPTED TO PUSH on the plunger under any circumstances whatsoever no matter what.

Just repeat pulling on the plunger several times till you think you have put in enough ink into the cartridge,
you can at this stage change the angle of the cartridge is you think it will help get more ink in.

Leave your cartridge to stand for a minute or two then remove the syringe and your all done,
and I repeat it once again dont push on the plunger its not necessary
and it wont serve any purpose other than spilling ink everywhere.


I weigh my refilled cartridge and I got it to 25 gm. which included the OEM unmodified clip,
now I taught that was pretty good for my first attempt and was fairly satisfied,
the same cartridge when new weight in at 26 gm. with the orange clip attached.

I used a set-up cartridge for this exercise because I didnt have an XL cartridge available
so the weights quoted above are only good for these cartridges and not the XL type.

Ill add a thread later on a possible ways to extend the life of an OEM cartridge chip..

 

[barfl2]

The Hat Your latest efforts will be appreciated by 551 users. I assume from the photos that this is in effect a Freedom type filling clip?

I made a similar one from a Octoinks clip for my 521 carts. Whether my construction is 100% or not, whilst I get a strong vacuum I get inconsistent results. There is a great deal of foamy ink on the first pull, and sometimes did not get much ink into the cart. So have reverted to top fill and the German method.

I do note you say wait a couple of minutes, is that to allow bubbles to disperse?. I like the Freedom method just cannot achieve the results

 

[mikling]

I'll stay away from this one. I can imagine ink flying around when someone makes a mistake and then I get flamed. It's bad enough when many "males" don't read instructions and push on the go button. I can see the inexperienced getting into trouble.

For the time being the easiest method I see for these long cartridges is to remove the plug, top fill and use a zero clearance plug and tape over it to guarantee a seal. Whether the starter cartridges or the XL, the zero clearance plug will work. If the XL body is used, the low clearance plug is easier to refill with and will clear all obstacles.

 

[The Hat]

I do note you say wait a couple of minutes, is that to allow bubbles to disperse?.
I like the Freedom method just cannot achieve the results

When I suggested you leave the syringe on the refill clip for a few minutes afterwards,
it was just to let the air pressure equalise so you dont have a mess when your take the syringe off.

If youre not getting enough ink into the cartridge that would suggest you have an air leak somewhere,
most lightly through the air maze.

When you pull a vacuum on the cartridge the plunger should move back in a little bit after you have let it go
and if it doesnt you then should be able to pull it out again more the second time,
which would confirm the presents of an air leak.

For the freedom method to work properly you do need the cartridge to be fully air tight otherwise
the ink in the syringe will not be sucked inside the cartridge when you let go of the plunger..

 

[The Hat]

The Hat Your latest efforts will be appreciated by 551 users. I assume from the photos that this is in effect a Freedom type filling clip?

I made a similar one from a Octoinks clip for my 521 carts. Whether my construction is 100% or not, whilst I get a strong vacuum I get inconsistent results. There is a great deal of foamy ink on the first pull, and sometimes did not get much ink into the cart. So have reverted to top fill and the German method.

I do note you say wait a couple of minutes, is that to allow bubbles to disperse?. I like the Freedom method just cannot achieve the results

Your method is also a good one and it too can have unexpected consequences especially when
the would be refiller ignores the instructions, getting the refilling wrong is such a colourful experience dont you think..
---------------------------------------------

More ranting from The Hat

Something sprang into my mind that might help extend the life of the paper chips
on these OEM cartridges; this might help give them a longer life span.

To remove a cartridge you need the printer to be powered on first then lift the top lid
and wait till the print head moves to the middle of the carriageway. ( No S**t Sherlock )

I would recommend that at this point you should pull the power lead out of the wall socket
and then change/remove any or all the cartridges that need your attention, and then reinstall them afterwards.

Carrying out this operation whilst the power is off might help stop any static or power surge blowing the hell out of these delicate chips,
which would then require you to purchase more new cartridges, ouch...

my two cent worth..

 

[ThrillaMozilla]

I may have mentioned this before, but there is a trick that I sometimes use with my HP, which doesn't require me to have a complete set of spare XL cartridges. This may help with the 551 cartridges, since people are cursing the starter cartridges and don't want to lay out a lot of cash for replacements.

I find that I remove and replace the same cartridge, it does not trigger a purge cycle. So I can refill the cartridge and replace it. I do have to leave the head without a cartridge for a few minutes, and sometimes the head returns to park, but the procedure works anyway. I'm guessing this may work also with Canon.

 

[websnail]

For what it's worth the purge clips will still be available as/when I get hold of the necessary orange clips or alternative compatible ones. However, as Mike noted, the process suggested above is not really going to be the best one for average user and too prone to problems for amateur refillers.

I'll have the necessary gizmos to hand for the "devil may care" tech folks who understand the concept of responsibility for their own actions and the refilling process but for the lesser spotted amateur I think it'll be top-filling and possibly the Jero refill jigs but not sure if that's worth it for all but the high-use end-user.

At the end of the day though this forum is pretty much on the cutting edge so all grist to the mill... Next week we send a cartridge, kit and Brian up to the ISS so he can show us how to refill in zero gravity!

 

[barfl2]

No the reference to waiting 2 minutes was at the beginning of your post when you pulled remaining ink out, before starting the actual refill itself, hence my query was this to let air bubbles go. I understand about waiting at the end to allow pressures to equalise.

The original design for Freedom had a right angle bend in the adaptor which I thought was essential. But my/your/commercial devices go straight onto the exit port, and I was wondering whether this had any bearing on the inky foam I get with I.S. inks.

As stated I like the principles of the Freedom method, and if I can glean anything to improve my efforts will try it, and that original comment of 2 minutes made me wonder thats all.

 

[The Hat]

Sorry for getting the wrong end of the stick on which part of the refilling procedure you were referring too.

I only included that bit at the start because I wanted to remove all of the OEM ink before I actually started the refilling,
under normal circumstances you wouldnt have to do that.

My reference to leaving it to stand was to drain as much ink out as possible thats all,
I wasnt too bothered about the bubbles because when refilling
these bubbles tend to stay at the top and dont go into the cartridge.

I will also need to get a better seal on the air maze because I didnt get enough ink into the cartridge on the first attempt,
(About 1 ml short), work done more needed.

The other two Ink Masters felt it was to high tech for them to recommend to their customers which I totally understand
but I didnt demonstrate it just for them; I only wanted my chance to try it out in zero gravity..

 

[ThrillaMozilla]

The original design for Freedom had a right angle bend in the adaptor which I thought was essential. But my/your/commercial devices go straight onto the exit port, and I was wondering whether this had any bearing on the inky foam I get with I.S. inks.

I don't think the bend is essential, and probably not always important. The foam is created when you are blowing tiny bubbles through the exit filter. It may help to arrange the syringe below the cartridge, so the bubbles are blowing into air, not into liquid. I have noticed I.S. ink tends to foam more than some. I have to be careful to seal the vent completely, and in some cases, I have to add a LOT of extra ink in the syringe.

I wasnt too bothered about the bubbles because when refilling these bubbles tend to stay at the top and dont go into the cartridge.

You're either lucky or doing something right. Depending on ink and the method of filling, sometimes the entire charge of ink is converted to foam.